U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/967,621, filed Sep. 6, 2007, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
On a cotton harvester having an onboard cotton module builder, also known as a cotton packager, the module or cotton package is formed by a compactor apparatus or structure that moves in a vertical direction within a module builder or cotton compactor chamber, thereby pressing and compacting the cotton beneath the compactor structure against the chamber floor structure. Typically, augers on the compactor structure distribute the cotton within the compactor chamber and also act as compactor members for applying downward force against the cotton beneath the compactor structure when the compactor structure moves vertically down within the chamber. This results in a generally rectangular shape free-standing module of compacted cotton when subsequently unloaded onto the ground or another surface. Also typically, once unloaded, the top of the module is covered with a canvas or film tarp or cover. This is to prevent water from collecting on the module from rain or condensation prior to processing by a cotton gin. Cotton gins typically cannot process the cotton if the cotton is too high in moisture content. Recent advances in cotton compactor technology have provided the capability to densely pack the cotton, such that the module can substantially retain the shape of the sides of a module builder or compactor chamber, and such that the sides of the module will have a density that will shed water. However, to form a module having a desired consistency throughout, and/or a module top having a desired shape, for instance, a flat shape, a shape tapered or sloped to one side to shed water in one direction, or a crown shape to better shed water in all directions, it must be possible to controllably distribute the cotton in a manner which facilitates achieving such consistency and/or shape.
Self-propelled cotton harvesters equipped with on-board cotton module builders presently utilize an operator cab on the front of the harvester, separated from the cotton module builder by a row of ducts which extend upwardly from cotton harvesting row units located below and forwardly of the cab. These ducts greatly obstruct the view of the module builder from the cab, particularly the view into the module building chamber, such that, from the cab, the information regarding the status of conditions within the module building chamber, and particularly, regarding the shape of the upper surface of the presently formed module, and distribution of accumulated cotton, that can be obtained visually, is very limited. Additionally, in many instances, the module is being built as the harvester is harvesting cotton, such that it is not desirable or practical for the operator to attempt to directly visually observe the module building process.
To partially compensate for lack of visual information, it is known to provide apparatus and systems for sensing and gathering information regarding the module shape and cotton distribution. Reference in this regard, Lemke et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,059,242, issued Jun. 13, 2006, and entitled Compactor Position Sensing for Module Builder. The information generated by systems such as that of the referenced Lemke et al. patent, is utilized in an automatic module building process and is useful, but it has been found that sometimes the automated system will fail to form a desired shape module top, e.g., tapered or crown shape, and that the inadequacies in respect to an individual cotton module may not be discovered until the module is unloaded. Thus, it is desirable to have a capability for ascertaining the status of the module top shape in-process, in real-time as the module is being built, and a capability to modify the module building process, as required for achieving desired module characteristics, particularly, as to the shape of the module top.
Compacting apparatus has also been developed which provides enhanced capability for module forming, particularly module top shape. Reference in this regard, Dupire et al., U.S. Patent Publication No. 20060225397, published Oct. 12, 2006, and entitled Cotton Compactor Apparatus with Right Hand and Left Hand Augers for a Cotton Module Builder and Method of Operation of the Same. This apparatus mostly provides satisfactory results. But still, there are times when it is desirable to adapt or modify the module building process, to achieve improved top shape and other characteristics. In this regard, the module building process is complex, and is controlled by a computer program with varying parameters to handle the different crop conditions that can be encountered not only from field to field but within the same field being harvested. These crop conditions include the yield (amount of cotton being harvested), variety of the cotton harvested, amount of moisture in the cotton, and trash content. The varying parameters of the program that operates the mechanism for forming the module takes these varying conditions into account. However, there are times when one or more of these parameters may need to be changed, enhanced or supplemented, such as the direction of auger rotation, number of compacting or packing cycles, e.g., adding an additional cycle or cycles, for achieving better module formation. It is been found that such parameter changes, supplements, etc., can be effected by operator inputs, from the operator cab during harvest, or by an operator controlling the module builder at another location, if the operator can visually observe how the module is being formed. Another visual help to the operator would be the ability to observe the unloading process of the module onto the ground or another surface.
Thus, what is sought is a manner of incorporating an imaging capability into a module builder and the module building process, which allows the operator to effectively monitor the module building process, and effect changes or modifications, on the go, from a remote location such as the operator cab and while simultaneously harvesting, which provides one or more of the desired capabilities, and overcomes one or more of the problems, set forth above.